Hoboken, N.J. – Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop will give the keynote address at Stevens Institute of Technology’s 144th Convocation, an annual tradition held at the beginning of each fall semester to introduce newly-arrived students to the university community. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer will also welcome Stevens students to their new hometown, encouraging them to follow in the footsteps of Stevens students and alumni throughout history by getting involved in the local community.

“We are honored to have two respected leaders addressing our newest students,” said Stevens President Nariman Farvardin. “Mayors Fulop and Zimmer have demonstrated that it is possible for a single individual to make a big difference in the community and in the world, a message that we hope will inspire our new students as they begin this next phase of their lives.”

Mayor Fulop, who took office as the 49th Mayor of Jersey City in July 2013, made the life-altering decision to leave his job at Goldman Sachs just after the September 11th attacks and enlist in the United States Marine Corps. As a member of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion, he was deployed to Iraq. Fulop and his unit were awarded the Overseas Service Ribbon, Meritorious Masts, and the Presidential Unit Citation.

Mayor Fulop came home a profoundly changed person with a continued desire to serve. He focused it on his own community, where he became president of both the Historic Paulus Hook Association and the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations. He took office on the City Council in 2005 as the third youngest in the history of Jersey City. On May 14th, 2013, Fulop won a decisive victory over the incumbent mayor and was sworn in on July 1, 2013.

“It is an honor to address the incoming students at Stevens Institute as they embark on the next chapter of their educational journey,” said Mayor Fulop. “Reflecting on my time as a student, the advice I have is for each of you to take every opportunity that arises – especially the challenges. It is the unexpected paths that have led to the greatest reward in life.”

Zimmer became Hoboken’s first female mayor in 2009, having previously served as a member of City Council of Hoboken. Since taking office, she has dedicated herself to restoring fiscal responsibility and improving quality of life for residents. Among her accomplishments are steadily reducing taxes, establishing a responsible cash surplus, restructuring the police and fire departments, privatizing Hoboken’s hospital, using technology to make government more efficient, and pioneering progressive transportation initiatives.

“Whether it’s through volunteering or collaborative research projects, the students, staff and faculty at Stevens are such a valued part of the Hoboken community,” said Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “I look forward to welcoming all the new students to our great city.”

Stevens 2014 Convocation will welcome about 800 new undergraduate students, the largest and most accomplished group ever admitted to Stevens Institute of Technology. Last year’s cohort of new students, by comparison, was 716, a 12% increase.

The profile of this year’s undergraduate class demonstrates how Stevens is making progress on the growth, selectivity and diversity goals outlined in the university’s ten-year strategic plan. The average SAT scores of the incoming class have risen from last fall’s average of 1220-1380 to 1260-1410.

Among those accepted are several National Merit Finalists, a few All-American athletic recruits, an actor, and even a student who has been featured in Popular Science magazine.

Also participating in Convocation will be representatives from the newest cohort of about 1,000 new graduate students including more than 750 full-time graduate students representing 31 countries.

President and CEO of Boswell Engineering and Vice Chairman of the Stevens Board of Trustees, Stephen T. Boswell, Ph.D, P.E., SECB, LSRP, will confer an honorary Master of Engineering degree to Dr. Rajarathnam Chandramouli, a Stevens professor and President/Director, Co-Founder of InStream Media, LLC. Over 20 awards will be given to undergraduate students for their academic success and community involvement.

The Class of 2018 will officially be welcomed and sworn into the Stevens Honor System, which ensures that work submitted by students, can be trusted as their own and was performed in an atmosphere of honesty and fair play. A secondary function of the Honor System is to promote, both on the campus and in the individual student, a sense of honor in preparation for the professional world. (web.stevens.edu/honor)

Convocation will take place on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. in Canavan Arena on the Stevens campus in Hoboken, N.J.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University®, is a premier, private research university situated in Hoboken, N.J. overlooking the Manhattan skyline. Founded in 1870, technological innovation has been the hallmark and legacy of Stevens’ education and research programs for more than 140 years. Within the university’s three schools and one college, more than 6,100 undergraduate and graduate students collaborate with more than 350 faculty members in an interdisciplinary, student-centric, entrepreneurial environment to advance the frontiers of science and leverage technology to confront global challenges. Stevens is home to four national research centers of excellence, as well as joint research programs focused on critical industries such as healthcare, energy, finance, defense, maritime security, STEM education and coastal sustainability. The university is consistently ranked among the nation’s elite for return on investment for students, career services programs and mid-career salaries of alumni. Stevens is in the midst of a 10-year strategic plan, The Future. Ours to Create., designed to further extend the Stevens legacy to create a forward-looking and far-reaching institution with global impact.